Need for hotels grows in The Woodlands

By Tamra Santans

Published 12:50 pm, Monday, December 31, 2012

After a five-year lull, two new hotels are proposed in The Woodlands, including one on the Waterway and another as part of mixed-use, 66-acre commercial real estate project under development on Lake Woodlands.

There are a dozen hotels in The Woodlands, but with the population growing and the number of employees and new businesses rapidly expanding, the need for hotels is growing.

"There is a shortage of hotels on certain given nights throughout the year," Wolda said. "Business is great in The Woodlands, from corporate meetings, conventions and leisure shopping, dining and entertainment travels."

"This is in the planning stages, but we do not have exact specifications at this time," Vreeland-Wendt said.

In addition to the hotel, the Waterway is rapidly changing with two office towers under construction along with a possible third 20-story office complex.

A high-end limited service hotel, with less than 200 rooms, is planned for the 66-acre development, called Hughes Landing.

The development, with up to eight office buildings and retail and residential, will be the first mixed-use development on Lake Woodlands.

The hotel will be located between the office building and the retail and residential locations, said Alex Sutton, president of The Woodlands Development Co.

The initial phase of the development, located at the upper east end of Lake Woodlands, is an eight-story, 195,227-square-foot office complex. The site is already being cleared for construction.

The second part of the project will be retail and residential, with most likely five restaurants built on Lake Woodlands and two off the water.

The restaurants will include family restaurants and sophisticated dining, Sutton said.

The Woodlands' population has increased from 29,000 in 1990 to 94,000 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The population is now about 112,000, according to 2011 census estimates.

The Woodlands has 1,755 employers, and the office vacancy rate in The Woodlands is 1.9 percent, Vreeland-Wendt said.

The top nonretail employers in The Woodlands are Conroe Independent School District with 3,321 employees, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. with 2,901 employees and Aon Hewitt with 1,800.

Exxon Mobil will soon be the top employer when it moves 10,000 employees to the area in 2015 on a new 385-acre campus near the intersection of Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road, just south of The Woodlands.

"(Office) occupancy continues to increase throughout Houston due to the oil and gas industry," said PKF Consulting's Randy McCaslin.

"This growth is currently increasing occupancies in The Woodlands and will increase dramatically once Exxon moves to the area."